Introduction

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder, occurring in humans and various other mammals like cats, dogs and ferrets. Diabetes in humans has various manifestations. Thus it is distinguished in:
- juvenile or type 1 diabetes (T1D)
- adult-onset or type 2 diabetes (T2D)
- MODY or type 3 diabetes (T3D)
The clinical picture of diabetes in dogs in many cases resembles type 1 diabetes in humans, although the disorder in concerned dogs becomes manifest only at a later age. Diabetes in cats rather looks like human type 2 diabetes (1). In humans T1D, T2D and T3D together include about 99% of all diabetic patients, affecting roughly 10% of the total Dutch population. That makes it the number 1 health disorder.

Diabetes in Humans offers background information for patients concerning the daily regulation of their blood glucose concentration. Which might be more stable as a result. It shortly describes the origin of T1D, T2D and T3D: how various gene-variants follow different pathways, leading to a more serious or milder disturbance of the glucose metabolism. That’s why large-scale DNA-analysis is advised, to offer choices to future parents that reduce the hereditary predispositions to diabetes. Because no one wishes a life with diabetes for her or his child.

And, last but not least, ‘Diabetes in Humans’ indicates the way to cure juvenile diabetes. That is to say: from then on daily insulin injections are abandoned. If successful, this therapy is a breakthrough in medical science.